It’s been another hectic week in the world of mobile gaming. Barely have the PocketGamer.biz team recovered from another Pocket Gamer Connects conference and the industry throws us enough news to keep us more than honest.

Rather than complain about the lack of rest for our wicked team, we’ve instead spent the week busily beavering away at the biggest stories of the week. Arguably the biggest news was the arrival of Supernauts, Grand Cru’s heavily tipped free to play game, which many believe has the potential to be the next major mobile monetisation hit.

But that was far from all that happened. Opera splurged millions of dollars on video network AdColony and while Seriously, yet another Finnish gaming start up aiming to take the world by storm, managed to raise cash for their goals. There was job news aplenty with GameDuell, Fuse Powered and Tag Games hiring. And free to play was in the headlines again, with Peter Molyneux claiming it 'abuses and confuses' players.

So without further ado, here are all the highlights from the last week in PocketGamer.biz land for you to devour hungrily.

Industry Voices

• Grand Cru spoke to us about how they found the pressure to be Finland’s next big thing “a little bit funny” ahead of the release of Supernauts.
• We found time to induct Ari Pulkkinen, composer of Angry Birds’ memorable theme tune, into our Hall of Fame.
• Peter Molyneux let rip at mobile free to play monetisation, claiming it “abuses and confuses players”.
• Kirk Mckeand spoke to the makers of Blek about how they twist and shouted their way to mobile success.
• The UK gaming industry is both shrinking and expanding, according to a new report from TIGA.
• Oscar Clark told us the secrets to mastering Games as a Service: iterate, iterate and iterate.
• King gave their regal approval to UKIE by signing up as a member earlier this week.
• Want to get signed to a publisher like Rovio Stars? Then you better be at conferences, according to Matthew Wilson.

Monetisation

• Frogmind told us why they felt Badland did as well as a paid game can do and why free to play “interests them”.
• SkyMobi and MIHOYO’s The End of School II scored $1.6m in its first month on mobile.
• GREE’s Knights and Dragons shows us the power of Games as a Service, according to the latest Charticle.
• Reach, engage and monetise is the mantra for mobile success, according to Infobip’s Paolo Rizzardini.

Tools & Platforms

• Amazon’s Fire Phone failed to ignite much interest in its 3D functionality amongst our Mobile Mavens.
• Unreal Engine will be at Liverpool’s Festival for Business as part of UKIE’s gaming showcase.
• Gamebench has gone live on Android, offering super detailed performance stats to those who fancy it.
• And in case you went to Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki and missed your free report, you can find out how to grab it here.

Funding, acquisitions, personnel and shutterings

• Seriously, another start-up from Finalnd’s super talented mobile scene, made a statement of intent by raising a further $2.65m in funding and poaching Rovio’s marketing chief.
• Opera splashed the cash on video ad platform AdColony, bringing them into the fold for up to $350m.
• GameDuell’s announcement of a swish new look came with news that they are looking for fresh blood to go with their fresh new logo.
• Dundee based Tag Games, responsible for Moshi Monsters Village and Might and Magic: Clash of Heroes, is on the lookout for a new lead Game Designer.
• Fuse Powered sent a crack three-man team to open a new office in San Francisco and they’ll be on the lookout for new talent soon.
• Kabam poached EA Mobile’s GM Aaron Loeb to run their North American studio.
• And in positive news regarding gender diversity in the industry, a report from the Independent Game Developers Association claimed that 22 percent of people working in the industry are women; a 100 percent increase on last year.